Back in stock: Breakbeat

Review: Tal Fussman's new EP 'Focus' is a dazzling experimental techno gem. Following up releases on the likes of Survival Tactics and Innervisions, Fussman this time crops up on Drumpoet Community's catalogue for a stylistically fragmentary, but still somehow unified, five-tracker. It's hard to put our fingers on the je ne sais qoui of this EP's charm, though one thing we can nod to is its overarching glassy feel, whether evoked by the brittle front cover or refractive synthwork throughout. The arc of the EP is dub techno-ish, then IDM and breaksy, and back again, reflecting a stylistic unpretentiousness despite the producer's clearly, unusually cogent talents.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Burnski's superb Pilot label is back with more club-ready gold and this one is from Hatori Hanso. He opens up by covering the gorgeously deep and soul enriching sounds of a Pepe Bradock classic but reworks the pads into a more thumping breakbeat rhythm. 'My Chorus' is a soft acid delight with surging breaks heading off into the cosmos and 'I'm A Taker' then has a squelchy bassline to die for that dances about between snappy snares and lively kick drums. 'Kraulen' shuts down with some boogie energy, radiant chords and more crispy drum patterns for good time fun.

Review: The first release on the freshly minted MASS label is a smorgasbord of nostalgic, retri-futurist delights that showcases cuts from a quartet of artists old and new. Kelper kicks things off by adding warming chords, squelchy synth bass and far-sighted electronic motifs to a punchy electro beat, before Midge Thompson joins the dots between spacey, early '90s deep house and the sub-heavy sound of bleep techno. Nikol's 'Leon' is a fine tribute to early '90s UK techno full of clattering drum machine beats, moody motifs and stabbing 'LFO' bass, while Keefy G's 'Tools For Le Car' sounds like an unlikely collaboration between Kraftwerk, Sweet Excorcist, the Nathaniel X Project and a restless scratch DJ. As label debuts go, it's an impressive first outing.

Review: Contemporary bass music up-and-comer Pîrvu returns to Meander with a clever take on breakstep, breakbeat and electro, the 'Skylark' EP. With the little brown job of a bird held firmly in mind - its avian grace matched well by the light, but also hot-winged determination of the title track - we find ourselves compelled to dance with both light and hot footing in equal measure. Following that up, there's 'Edge Of A Strange Euphoria', with its phat FMs and murky narration proving that some if not most states of ecstasy are mixed bags, provided they do the proper job of challenging our inner status quos. Finally 'Zuzu' ends things on a franker note of gaslamp-lit acid, with Dan Andrei also lending a hand to produce a neat 4/4 version.